Chungah Rhee

Per Chungah Rhee: I’ve always dreamed of a pretty, go-to cookbook that you can flip through when you need inspiration and motivation...

Wow, this book is exactly that. It’s a collection of appetizing foods that are beautifully captured in full-color, full-page photos on smooth, heavy pages. The accompanying recipes have familiar ingredients and clear preparation instructions, most involving 3-5 simple steps over fewer than 30 minutes. They tend to serve 4 people but there are some show more singles, some for two and some for 6 or 8. Every recipe includes nutrition info.

Rhee’s authorial voice is friendly, energetic and optimistic. Best of all, this collection matches my tastes more than any I’ve encountered. (I don’t know if I counted even five recipes I wouldn’t try.) I characterize them as comfort foods, but it’s today’s hip-brunch or take-out versions of comfort, not the standards from my childhood. For example, I pay homage to the multiple appearances of avocado :) Delicious!

(Review based on a copy of the book provided by the publisher.) show less

The beautiful photos really elevate this cookbook, which is full of fast shortcutty recipes. Recipes seem set on reproducing take out favorites and quickly preparing other original, flavourful meals. Often the flavour arrives on the back of salt, fat and breading, but, hey, the book never pretends to be a healthy eating cookbook. For example, 'Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Skillet'.

I think younger home cooks, especially those at college or starting out on their own, will love this book. Cheap, show more accessible ingredients include store-bought flour tortillas for making mini pizzas, packaged beef cocktail sausages (for bacon wrapped smokies), canned biscuit dough (parmesan twists), packaged cream cheese, and frozen / canned vegetables.

An overload of umami! The photographs are the best I have seen in a cookbook yet. You cannot help but smile from the overall bright tone and infectious cheerfulness of the book.

**eARC Netgalley** show less

While a lot of the recipes looked tasty, this book promotes starving yourself. It includes calorie counts for suggested meal plans that are inadequate for providing enough nutrition. One day was less than 1200 calories. How people equate starving themselves with being "healthy" is one of those ridiculous UNHEALTHY byproducts of the 1.4 trillion dollar US diet industry.

Reread in 2024 (5 years later). I still agree with my previous assessment that these calorie counts wouldn't be healthy but I show more do think a lot of the recipes look tasty. show less

Love, Love, Love this cookbook! The title is a perfect description of the recipes. All are quick and easy. Many of them are healthy and delicious too. Will be buying this one :)